Jerry Walker scored 4 of his 15 points in an 8-0 second-half burst that enabled No. 12 Seton Hall to hold off Rutgers 77-72 on Wednesday night.
Gordon Winchester added 18 points for Seton Hall (4-1) and John Leahy and Danny Hurley both had career highs with 13 points apiece as the Pirates handed Rutgers its first loss in four games.Rutgers, which was led by Steve Worthy with 13 points, was coming into the game off consecutive victories over then-No. 24 UNLV and at Princeton. However, the Pirates proved too much.
Seton Hall never trailed in the second half, leading by as many as 12 in the early minutes and by as little as 60-59 after Jamal Phillips capped a seven-point run by putting in a rebound.
But each time Rutgers got its second-largest home crowd ever into a frenzy, the Pirates found a way to quiet the mostly red-shirted crowd of 8,966.
After the Scarlet Knights got within 60-59, Walker hit a 12-foot jumper and a turnaround jumper to start an eight-point run that Hurley capped with two free throws. Winchester also had a layup in the spurt on a nice assist from Hurley, who had to leave the game shortly afterwards after apparently injuring his ribs in a collision with Winchester.
Donnell Lumpion ignited another Rutgers comeback with a 3-pointer with 5:02 to play and the Scarlet Knights eventually got within 69-66 with 4:05 to play on a rebound follow by Mike Jones.
However, Leahy hit Winchester with a behind-the-back pass for a layup and then converted a three-point play to put the Pirates ahead 74-68 with 2:58 to play. The closest Rutgers after that got was 75-72 with 52 seconds to play on a short jumper by Alvin Rich, but Leahy added two free throws with 17 seconds to play to ice the win.
Seton Hall held Rutgers without a field goal for the final 5:33 of the opening half while outscoring the Scarlet Knights 12-4, with Hurley and Crist doing most of the damage.
Crist got Seton Hall started by hitting two free throws after Mike Jones was called for an offensive foul on a layup.
The Pirates led 42-34 at the half and opened their biggest margin - 49-37 - when Darrell Mims scored from inside with 16:59 to go.
No. 23 Missouri 113, Nebraska-Kearney 67
At Columbia, Mo., Anthony Peeler scored 25 points Wednesday night and No. 23 Missouri coasted to a 113-67 victory over Nebraska-Kearney.
Missouri, 5-0, topped 100 points for the first time this season.
Nebraska-Kearney fell to 3-6.
WAC
Wyoming 60, Colorado 58
At Boulder, Colo., a big 3-pointer by reserve Brett Studdard and the winning jumpshot by Maurice Alexander gave Wyoming a come-from-behind victory over Colorado in the 66th meeting of the two teams.
The game was a seesaw with the lead changing hands nine times.